Search - 2023

 
 
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, attends a meeting in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on June 8, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 8, 2025

Daglo, the feared Darfuri general accused by the U.S. of genocide

The paramilitary commander went from feared Darfur militia commander to de facto vice-president before unleashing a devastating war for power in Sudan.
Masahiro Nakai in Tokyo in October 2017
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2025

TV networks drop Japan boy band star over sex allegations

Reports say that Masahiro Nakai, a former member of SMAP, paid a woman a lump sum of ¥90 million.
Japanese cybersecurity authorities raised an alarm Wednesday over a China-linked hacker group called MirrorFace, saying it has struck 210 targets in Japan since 2019.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2025

Japan authorities raise alarm over China-linked cyberattacks

Analyses of the targets and methods and malware used by the hackers suggested that the attacks were an organized activity with a suspected link to the Chinese government.
Aryna Sabalenka celebrates after winning the Brisbane International final on Sunday.
TENNIS
Jan 9, 2025

Aryna Sabalenka set to take center stage again at Australian Open

Sabalenka has reached at least the semifinals in nine of her last 12 Grand Slams.
Volkswagen ID. Buzz electric vehicles are lined up at the company's plant in Hanover, Germany, on Dec. 17.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2025

Germany electric vehicle sales go into reverse

Just 380,609 EVs were registered in 2024 in Europe's largest auto market, 27.4% fewer than in the previous year.
The Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 is anchored near the city of Granaa in Jutland, Denmark, on Nov. 20. Sweden's foreign minister said last month that China had denied a request for prosecutors to conduct an investigation of the ship linked to recently severed Baltic Sea cables.
EDITORIALS
Jan 10, 2025

Be ready for the new Cold War, under the sea

In the South China Sea, a least one cable fault is reported in the waterway every few weeks; in other parts of the world it’s one incident a year.
Ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada with the countdown clock for the launch of the startup's lunar lander, in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on Thursday
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 10, 2025

Japanese space startup readies for second lunar lander launch

Ispace's Resilience lander will lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Palm trees burned by the Palisades Fire along the shore in Malibu, California, at sunrise on Friday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 11, 2025

‘We’re in a new era’: How climate change is supercharging disasters

Extreme weather events — deadly heat waves, floods, fires and hurricanes — are the consequences of a warming planet, scientists say.
Rescue workers search a flooded area during the aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis, which caused severe floods at the Chikuma River, in the city of Nagano in October 2019.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Jan 12, 2025

Disaster-hardened Japan faces enormous costs from climate change

The total cost in climate damages for the country through 2050 could amount to ¥952 trillion if more ambitious action isn't taken.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (right) and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a ceremonial welcome at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, Indonesia, on Saturday
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 12, 2025

Ishiba turns to Southeast Asia amid growing international uncertainty

Experts say that Ishiba's decision to prioritize Malaysia and Indonesia was a sign of the importance of the two major regional economies.
U.S. Vice President-elect JD Vance following a meeting with Republican Senators in Washington on Jan. 8
WORLD / Politics
Jan 13, 2025

JD Vance predicts hostage deal before Trump’s return to White House

JD Vance says a hostage deal with Hamas is likely before Trump’s inauguration, crediting tough rhetoric for pushing negotiations forward.
Coco Gauff hits a return against Sofia Kenin during the first round of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday.
TENNIS
Jan 13, 2025

Coco Gauff cruises past Sofia Kenin in first round at Australian Open

The American has been on a scintillating run of form that has made her a major threat to two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka at Melbourne Park.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange will soon require some companies to publish their financials in English in addition to Japanese.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 13, 2025

Japanese companies rush to up English-language disclosures in 2025

The Tokyo Stock Exchange requires Prime market companies to release financial statements and other key information simultaneously in English and Japanese from April.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters after a three-way virtual summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 13, 2025

Ishiba urges Biden to dispel concern about investment in U.S.

Japanese firms invested almost $800 billion in the United States in 2023, more than any other country, and 14.3% of the total, according to official U.S. data.
Epidurals during childbirth have long been uncommon in Japan, though they have been growing more popular in recent years.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 14, 2025

Tokyo plans to subsidize epidurals, but are hospitals ready?

If all goes to plan, Tokyo will be the first to offer prefecture-level financial support for epidurals.
Young Tibetan monks sit on a scooter as they arrive to take part in a protest march held to mark the 65th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, in the northern hill town of Dharamsala, India, on March 10, 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 14, 2025

How China is erasing Tibetan culture, one child at a time

Education, especially in minority areas, is a politically sensitive topic. Tibetans who oppose the boarding schools risk imprisonment if they protest.
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 15, 2025

U.S. and Egyptian leaders focus on 'coming hours' in Gaza cease-fire talks

Officials say an agreement for a truce in the besieged enclave and release of hostages was closer than ever.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Ispace's Resilience lunar lander lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 15, 2025

Japanese space startup launches second bid for historic moon landing

A successful landing would make Ispace the first private Asian company to touch down on the moon.
Tourists take photos at Sensoji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2025

Japan saw a record 37 million visitors from abroad in 2024

The full-year number in 2024 represents a 47.1% year-to-year increase and was up 15.6% compared with 2019.
The Hollywood sign shrouded in smoke from an overnight blaze in the Hollywood Hills on Jan. 9
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2025

The Hollywood fires will cause harm long after they burn out

We’re not going to be able to turn the clock back on this creeping disaster. It will be many centuries before our atmosphere recovers from the damage.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump at the White House in Washington in November last year.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 16, 2025

Biden to hand unfinished agenda to Trump for a chaotic Middle East

Joe Biden's Middle East record is likely to be remembered not so much for how conflicts ended on his watch, but mainly for how they unfolded.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen is one of the leading candidates for the NFL MVP award this season.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 17, 2025

Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson headline high-profile showdown in divisional round

Both players epitomize the modern preference for quarterbacks who can not only throw with pinpoint accuracy but can also be a threat running the ball.
Demonstrators in Rabat, Morocco, on Thursday show support for Palestinians following the news of a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Hamas and Israel.
COMMENTARY
Jan 17, 2025

Gaza ceasefire deal is a win for Trump

Donald Trump secured a Gaza ceasefire by pressuring Israel into an agreement, but achieving a lasting peace will depend on resolving deeper regional issues.
Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
BUSINESS / Companies / Longform
Jan 17, 2025

Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go

The CEO and president of Rapidus says the chip venture in Hokkaido is key to Japan's fortunes.
The surge in share buybacks followed a request by the Tokyo Stock Exchange in March 2023 that listed companies put more focus on improving capital efficiency.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 20, 2025

Listed Japanese firms' share buybacks hit record in 2024

The increase has been attributed to accelerated corporate efforts to improve capital efficiency and pressure from activist shareholders.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic hits a return against the Czech Republic's Jiri Lehecka during their men's singles match on Day 8 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Sunday.
TENNIS
Jan 21, 2025

Djokovic and Alcaraz square up in Australian Open blockbuster

Djokovic is looking for his 100th tournament title and a record 25th Grand Slam crown.
Items produced under agriculture-welfare partnerships are displayed at an event in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Dec. 2.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2025

Farm-welfare links for disabled employment expand in Japan

Such partnership initiatives, launched by agricultural corporations and employment facilities, reached about 7,100 by fiscal 2023.
Staff members of the Kyoto-based company Mitsufuji stand near a small-scale model of a prototype hangar tent for electromagnetic shielding and wearable gadgets at the Vietnam Defense Expo 2024 in Hanoi on Dec. 19.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2025

Japan hunts for dual-use goods makers to aid military expansion

Cultivating a homegrown defense industry was a key plank of Japan's ¥43 trillion military build-up strategy launched in 2022.
A message welcoming users back and thanking U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on the TikTok app
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2025

A beauty industry hooked on TikTok braces for an uncertain future

Last year, TikTok was one of the top 10 largest beauty e-commerce platforms in the U.S.
Israeli tanks near the border with Gaza, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as seen from Israel, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 22, 2025

Hamas' tight grip on Gaza complicates plan for lasting peace

Hamas remains deeply entrenched in Gaza and its hold on power represents a challenge to implementing a permanent ceasefire.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building